Sarcosuchus
Sarcosuchus was a giant crocodilian. It was much larger than a modern crocodile, ranging around 8 tons. The fossils have been found around in Africa & lived during the early Cretaceous era. Description Sarcosuchus was one of the largest giant crocodile-like reptiles that ever lived. It was almost twice as long as the modern saltwater crocodile and weighed about 8 to 10 metric tons.Lyon, Gabrielle. "Fact Sheet". SuperCroc. Project Exploration. Retrieved 2007-09-22. Its skull was as big as a human (1.78 m, or 5 ft 10 inches). The upper jaw overlapped the lower jaw, making an overbite. The jaws were quite slim (especially in juveniles). The snout is made up of about 75% of the skull's length. Sereno et al., 2001The teeth were cone-shaped, built to grab and hold, like those of true crocodilians, which, most of the time, kill prey by holding them underwater until they drown. Dr. Greg M. Erickson, Florida State University Greg Erickson, Faculty page Sarcosuchus had a strange dent at the end of its snout. Called a bulla, it has been compared to the ghara seen in gharials. Unlike the ghara, though, the bulla is seen in all Sarcosuchus skulls that have been found so far, while just the male gharial has a ghara. The use of this structure is still not clear. Sereno and others asked various reptile researchers what their thoughts on this bulla were. Views ranged from it boosting their sense of smell to being connected to a vocalization device. Geology News, 2001 History Until recently, all that was known of it was a few fossilized teeth and armour scutes, which were discovered in the Sahara Desert in the 1940s or 1950s. In 1997 and 2000, Paul Sereno discovered half a dozen new specimens, including one with about half the skeleton intact and most of the spine. All of the other giant crocodiles are known only from a few partial skulls, so which is actually the biggest is an open question. Paleobiology It seems likely that it ate the large fish and turtles of the Cretaceous. As the overhanging jaw and stout teeth are designed for grabbing and crushing, its primary prey may have been large animals and smaller dinosaurs, which it ambushed, dragged into the water, crushed, drowned and then tore apart. The long, thin snout of Sarcosuchus was much like the thin snouts of the modern gharial, the false gharial and the slender-snouted crocodile, all of which, for the most part, just eat fish and can't take on large prey. This can be contrasted to both the modern Nile crocodile and the extinct Deinosuchus, both of which have broad, heavy skulls, that can deal with large prey. This, and the mass of large, lobed-finned fish in its environment, leads most to think that, far from being a dinosaur killer, Sarcosuchus was simply a large piscivore, a scaled-up version of the modern gharial. Environment 110 million years ago, in the early Cretaceous, the Sahara was still a great tropical plain, dotted with lakes and crossed by rivers and streams that were lined with vegetation. Based on the number of fossils discovered, the aquatic Sarcosuchus was probably plentiful in these warm, shallow, freshwater habitats. Unlike modern true crocodiles, which are very similar in size and shape to one another and tend to live in different areas; Sarcosuchus was just one of many Crocodyliformes, of different sizes and shapes, all living in the same area.National Geographic Special on SuperCroc. National Geographic Channel, December, 2001. Four other species of extinct Crocodyliformes were also discovered in the same rock formation along with the Sarcosuchus, including a dwarf crocodile with a tiny, 8 cm (3 in) long skull. They filled a diverse variety of ecological niches, instead of competing with each other for resources. Sarcosuchus in The Land Before Time In LBT they are called Belly Draggers. One lived in the swamp and appeared twice in the The Land Before Time X: The Great Longneck Migration. The first time it appears disguises itself as a stone and Littlefoot tried to jump on it. It tried to bite him but was trodden on by Sue. Later it attacks his friends as they pass through. It almost eats Petrie but Cera accidentally makes a log land on it. (it wasn't really red - it's an effect used several times in LBT but never before this drastically, only the sky) Five more appear in The Amazing Threehorn Girl. They come into the Great Valley through a hole in the Great Wall. Two chase the gang. They go after Cera when she goes the other way from the rest but are scared away when she knocks down some rocks by accident. The characters believe they have left the valley and the adults seal the opening - but ominously there is no sign of the crocodilians, the reason being that they have not left the valley. For rescuing her friends Cera is thought to be a hero and although reluctant at first she begins to exaggerate the story a little bit more each retelling. To prove to Chomper that Cera is lying Littlefoot and Petrie take him to the sight were the Sarcosuchus cornered Cera. However they end up seeing a huge Sarcosuchus and two smaller ones heading towards the middle of the valley. When this is revealed and it turns out Cera was lying the adults try to chase her out of the valley. She runs away and is attacked by all five Belly Draggers. Her father arrives and fights them off, and they are chased from the valley for real since he push this crocodilian down on the ground, bites his tail, and swings it round and round and throws it in the air which makes them scared, threatened and forced to flee immediately. And it land on top of this brown one when its right behind the others. External links *"[http://prehistoricsillustrated.com/dms_sarcosuchus.html Sarcosuchus imperator]". Prehistorics Illustrated''. (illustrations)'' *"African fossil find: 40-foot crocodile". Guy Gugliotta. Washington Post, October 26, 2001. Retrieved November 17, 2004. *''SuperCroc: Sarcosuchus imperator. Gabrielle Lyon. Retrieved November 17, 2004. *"'SuperCroc' fossil found in Sahara". D. L. Parsell. ''National Geographic News, October 25, 2001. Retrieved November 17, 2004. *''Dinosaur Expedition 2000. Paul C. Sereno. Retrieved November 17, 2004. *"SuperCroc's jaws were superstrong, study shows". John Roach. ''National Geographic News, April 4, 2003. Retrieved November 17, 2004. *"Sereno, team discover prehistoric giant Sarcosuchus imperator in African desert." Steve Koppes. The University of Chicago Chronicle, volume 21, number 4, November 1, 2001. Retrieved November 17, 2004. *[http://www.staabstudios.com/portfolio/croc/croc1.html Making of the Sarcosuchus exhibit] Reference Category:Belly Draggers Category:Fourfooters Category:Sharptooth Category:Villains